| WEA

We'll support you how we can

If you have a:

disability,
a learning difficulty,
a health issue, or
other support needs

We will do our best to provide specialist staff and resources to help you succeed in your learning.

We need learners to take an Additional Learner Support (ALS) assessment. This helps us know about your needs and requirements.

Some examples of help include:

venue accessibility
extra help in the classroom, e.g. someone to sign, or take notes
extra time in exams or assessments
support with a learning need or disability
equipment, such as hearing induction loops or magnifiers

If you need any extra support, please tell us when you book. There is a question on the online booking to tell us.

Further questions?

Our friendly learner services team are always happy to help.

You can fill out the form on this page, and we'll be back in touch as soon as we can with you by email.

Live chat is available between 10am and 4pm Monday-Friday, which you can access by clicking the 'Chat with our team' button on your screen at any time. (The chat button will not show if no chat agents are available).

Lastly, you can call us on 0300 303 3464, Monday - Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Paying for a WEA course by instalments might be available on courses which last 40 hours or more.

How will instalments be split?

We will spread the instalment payments over 3 consecutive months.

The first payment is due at time of booking. The remaining 2 instalments are then made by:

Direct Debit on a monthly payment date of your choosing, or
by direct/credit card.

The WEA will not apply any charges or interest on instalment plans.

The full course fee, and any instalments left, is still due if you withdraw from a course once booked. This is unless the Course Cancellations or Refunds Policy applies. (Our policies page is found here).

Where a request for instalments isn't given, the full course fee is due within 5 working days of the decision.

Further questions?

Our friendly learner services team are always happy to help.

You can fill out the form on this page, and we'll be back in touch as soon as we can with you by email.

Lastly, you can call us on 0300 303 3464, Monday - Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Our DLS fund is here to help

The Discretionary Learner Support (DLS) fund can help us support you with:

tuition and examination fees
books and equipment
travel – we offer support for travel for exceptional circumstances
childcare (note, WEA support services must approve this)

The DLS support fund is for learners from a household income below £21,000 (this is £21,547.50 in Greater London only).

You will need to meet residency requirements for fee remission
You also need to prove that financial difficulties will stop you following or completing your course.

Below are DLS forms for each area. Complete the one most relevant to you. Each form has helpful notes which explain the eligibility and approval processes, and where to send the forms to once you have completed it. All forms should be completed before course start and within two weeks of the course start date.

ESFA courses (Not part of a Mayoral Combined Authority or you don't live in any of the places listed below)

Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)

Greater London Authority (GLA)

Liverpool City Region (LCR)

North of Tyne Combined Authority (Newcastle, Northumberland and North Tyneside)

West of England Combined Authority (WECA- Bristol)

West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA - Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, and Walsall)

West Yorkshire Combined Authority (Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield, and the City of York)

Further questions? Or need some help completing the form?

Our friendly learner services team are always happy to help.

You can fill out the form on this page, and we'll be back in touch as soon as we can with you by email.

Lastly, you can call us on 0300 303 3464, Monday - Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Ways to be eligible for fee remission

If you are:

working, or
self-employed, and
studying up to and including a Level 2 qualification

Then you can be eligible for fee remission.

This does depend on your income, and where you live. If you live in the areas or Mayoral Combined Authorities listed below, this is the maximum you can earn to qualify for fee remission (fees updated for 24/25 academic year):

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority: £30,491
Greater London Authority: £25,642.50
Greater Manchester Combined Authority: £25,000
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority: £33,958.60
North East Combined Authority: £25,000
South Yorkshire Combined Authority: £23,400
South Yorkshire Combined Authority (Level 3 qualifications only): £30,476.96
West Midlands Combined Authority: £32,000
West Yorkshire Combined Authority: £25,000
West of England Combined Authority: £23,400

If you do not live in one of the areas listed above, you qualify for ESFA funding, and your maximum is £25,000.

When you book, we will show the threshold applicable to you.

You will need to complete a Low Wage Declaration and submit proof of your income when booking.

This could be in the form of:

a payslip dated within 3 months of the course start date, or
a current employment contract that shows your gross salary.

If you are self-employed and on a low income you could provide :

a copy of your latest tax return, or
personal tax calculation/computation statement from HMRC, or
a statement of your accounts, or
an accountant’s letter, or
a copy of your annual tax summary

If you are on benefits, you can also claim fee remission. Learn more here.

Further questions?

Our friendly learner services team are always happy to help.

You can fill out the form on this page, and we'll be back in touch as soon as we can with you by email.

Lastly, you can call us on 0300 303 3464, Monday - Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Ways to qualify for fee remission

If you claim any Income Related Benefits you will be eligible for fee remission. This means you will get your course for free, or at a reduced cost.

For example:

you claim JSA (Job Seeker's Allowance), or
you claim ESA (Employment and Support Allowance), or
you claim Universal Credit.

You must provide your National Insurance number when booking.

you earn less than £494 per month (not including benefits), or
have a joint benefit claim and earn less than £782 per month,
you claim Council Tax Reduction, or you are dependent on someone who claims Council Tax Reduction.

This does not include a single occupancy discount.

you claim Working Tax Credit,
you claim Income Support,
you claim Pension Guarantee Credit,
you claim, or are dependent on someone who claims, Housing Benefit,
you are claiming Asylum in the UK. You will need:
- to have been a resident in the UK for six months or more
- have an Application Registration Card (ARC) or Standard Acknowledgement letter (SAL)
- a current Asylum Support Agreement from UK Visas and Immigration.

Please note: There could be other criteria based on where you live, or the course you are wanting to join. You must also meet general eligibility requirements, such as being over 19 years of age.

Functional Skills qualifications are free if you don't already have a GCSE in English or Maths at grades A*-C, or 4-9. We'll check your level and any previous qualifications before you start. This ensures you are on the correct course. Some other courses may be listed as free, please check any eligibility criteria before applying.

If you have low wages, you can also claim fee remission: Learn more here.

Further questions?

Our friendly learner services team are always happy to help.

You can fill out the form on this page, and we'll be back in touch as soon as we can with you by email.

Lastly, you can call us on 0300 303 3464, Monday - Friday, 9am to 5pm.

A career choice for compassionate people

If you’re a caring and compassionate person, health and social care jobs can be very rewarding. From mental health awareness training to care assistant courses, counselling skills to our unique Step into Care programme. We offer a wide range of courses to help you get into and succeed in a heath or social care role.

Skip to courses

Care work

Adult social care work covers a wide range of jobs. Care assistants and support workers support vulnerable adults in their day-to-day life. They often work in care homes, day centres or in a patient's own home. Personal assistants provide one on one support to someone who wants to manage their own support, often building a strong personal relationship with the person they care for. There are other roles in care homes, such as cleaning staff, working in the laundry or kitchens. All of these roles are essential for helping people to live dignified and comfortable lives.

Counselling skills

Doing a counselling skills qualification isn't just about training to become a counsellor. Build counselling skills to help in work or volunteer roles in healthcare, education, HR or charities. Open up new work opportunities and find a job where you can make a real difference to people’s lives. Counselling skills can help improve your communications skills, particularly listening skills, for any job role where you work with other people.

Short courses or long qualifications

From short courses to give you an insight into working in the NHS or in a care job. To longer qualifications such as a Certificate to Preparing to Work in Adult Social Care or a Diploma in Counselling Skills.

Get the skills, confidence and qualifications you need for different roles in health and social care.

If you are looking for work, need to get a better job, or want to improve your work skills, the WEA is here for you. We have a great track record of helping people like you gain the skills and confidence they need for work. Best of all, most of our work skills courses are free*.

Skip to courses

You can improve your job opportunities with the WEA.

Reach your potential

We know you can reach your potential in three simple steps:

Build your confidence and essential skills
Develop skills related to specific types of jobs
Progress in your current job by boosting your current skills and learning new ones

Supportive classes

The WEA and our team of supportive tutors are here for you at every step. Whether you’re a jobseeker, have recently been made redundant or you simply want to move up the ladder, we have a course for you.

Improve your English, maths or digital skills to earn more money. Find courses in health and social care, community interpreting, schools and childcare and more.

Find out more about job hunting, take courses to become more employable or change your career. Boost your employability skills and stand out on that job application.

Learn your way with the WEA

Take a short, informal course or gain a national qualification. Learning in a classroom, in a work setting or at home, you’ll always have the same great support from your tutor.

There’s something for everyone.

*Over 90% of applicants for skills courses do not need to pay a fee. Subject to status - courses are free for unemployed people, job seekers and people on low wage. If you do not qualify you will be alerted during the application process.

Working with partners across Scotland to improve digital skills

Introduction to the Digital Office
Learners who would like to work in an office environment and looking for a way to brush up on their digital skills before taking the leap can join our friendly tutors and update their digital skills. This includes:

Using Artificial Intelligence in the workplace
Cloud culture and MS 365
Video call etiquette
Intro to Excel
Digital scheduling tools on Outlook and the internet

Bespoke Digital Skills courses
It can be tricky to identify exactly what digital skills groups and individuals need to work on, especially in the ever-evolving world of cloud and app-based computing. Often, off-the-shelf courses waste time covering learning that is irrelevant to learners. Our tutors are experienced in working together with learners to identify learning needs, and developing bespoke courses in response to learner needs and desires. Courses can include the following elements:

Basic MS 365 skills, including Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams
Video calls for work, learning and fun
Introduction to the Online Learning and the Virtual Learning Environment (we use Canvas, which is used by many colleges and universities in Scotland, including City of Glasgow College, Glasgow Clyde College, Queen Margaret University, Herriot Watt and Stirling University).
Intro to tablets
Apps for everyday life: exploring apps for utilities, shopping, health etc.

Our Partners
We’ve run numeracy, literacy and ICT workshops and courses in workplaces, such as Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries (RSBi), with community groups such as the Glasgow Disability Alliance, North West Recovery Communities, and Home-Start, and in partnership with Jobcentre Plus. We’ve also worked in partnership with Local Authorities in the Borders and Edinburgh to deliver practitioners’ courses and courses for adult learners.

I enjoyed your training. It helped me a lot on the tasks I needed to do at my placement. I really enjoyed it, Simple to follow and understand. Thank you!

Want to learn more? Can we help you?
Complete the form below and one of our friendly team will be back in touch!

Working with partners across Scotland to improve numeracy skills

If you struggle with sums, you're not alone. Numeracy skills in the UK are getting worse. Almost 8 out of 10 adults struggle with maths. Developing skills with numbers can help learners improve their health, get a better job and find a good deal.

Our courses can be run online or in-person, at times and places to suit groups or individuals. Course length can be adapted to suit learner needs and we’re always happy to organise tasters or workshops so that learners can dip their toes in the water before diving into a full course.

We offer free online maths courses up to SCQF Core Skills Level 5, which is equal to a maths Nat 5 (grade C+). Courses can be accredited or unaccredited.

We also offer Multiply courses - learn more at our Multiply pages.

I gained confidence in helping my children with their homework

Maths Anxiety/ Number Confidence Workshops
Anyone can experience maths anxiety, or fear of maths, including adults and children. Although maths anxiety can affect your performance, it’s not connected to intelligence or ability in maths. Two in three learners who worry about maths will eventually succeed in the subject.

Our Maths Anxiety workshops help raise awareness of maths anxiety, whether it’s in the workplace, learning environments or the home. We look at the possible causes of maths anxiety and explore simple steps we can take to address maths anxiety.

Budgeting Courses
We focus on finding budgeting approaches that meet the needs of the individual through exploring various methods such as The Envelope System, using a spreadsheet, budgeting apps, discussing savings that can be made through payment methods, and much more.

Critical Numeracy: Big Number Numbness
Our Critical Numeracy courses help participants explore the numbers that matter to them, whether they want to learn how to gather and present their own statistics or make sense of the graphs, infographics and numbers that politicians use to persuade us to vote for them

Introduction to Pupil Support
Our Introduction to Pupil Support courses have been popular across Scotland, from the Highlands to Fife and Glasgow. Courses can be run online or in-person and come in 6-week and 10-week versions.

These courses are ideal for anyone who is thinking about getting into work in Pupil Support in primary schools. Learners explore the role, prepare to apply for jobs and learn about the Curriculum for Excellence and the Scottish Government’s Pupil Support Staff framework. The focus is on supporting children’s numeracy, learning through play and structured learning.

Maths Online Self-Study Course
This self-study course is designed to help learners who lack confidence with numbers, using the WEA's fun, engaging, interactive multimedia resources. Learners can work through the course at their own pace, with our friendly Numeracy Coaches on hand if they need support.

Supporting Adults to Support Children’s Numeracy
Our Supporting Children’s Numeracy courses help learners discover ways to support parents, carers, grandparents or volunteers who work with children or young people. Sessions include how to boost numeracy learning through everyday activities; create a positive number environment; get creative with numbers; and much more.

Songwriting and numeracy
One of the biggest barriers to numeracy learning is the fear and anxiety many learners feel when they think about the maths they learned at school. We want to break that association and help learners come to numbers in a relaxed and supportive environment!

This course will embed numeracy teaching and learning in our popular songwriting course that learners love by exploring graphic notation, fractions in musical notes, and finding the patterns and sequences in beat, tempo and rhythm.

Supporting Adult Learners’ Numeracy/ Supporting Adults’ Numeracy Skills
This course brings together practitioners from the third and public sectors who support adults in the community to recognise, reflect on and share experiences of supporting adults’ numeracy skills in a range of settings. We explore ways of supporting everyday number skills, including Maths Anxiety, Budgeting, Travel, Food, Cooking & Nutrition; Citizenship; Health and identify a variety of free Open Educational Resources to support our practice.

Want to learn more? Can we help you?
Complete the form below and one of our friendly team will be back in touch!

Working with partners across Scotland to improve communication

Communication is essential to everyday life. It helps learners build relationships and understand the world we live in. Improving your communication skills allows learners to connect with other people, access learning pathways, and to progress in their workplace. Learning with the WEA is not like school. It’s learning made for adults, and you’ll be taught by supportive tutors.

English
Learners can boost their English skills and get a better understanding of grammar. Improve their spelling and gain confidence in reading. We also provide the opportunity to learn the basics and build the skills to gain an SQA Core Skills Award in Communications at SCQF Level 2 - 4. Improving your reading and writing as an adult is not as hard as you might think.

Communicating Confidently
This communication skills course can help learners feel more comfortable in conversations, meetings, or when speaking in public. If you struggle to find your voice or get your point across, this communication skills course can help you feel more comfortable in conversation. By learning effective tools and techniques to improve communication skills our courses will help learners gain confidence whether they want to feel more comfortable meeting new people, holding union meetings or participating in community discussions.

Creative courses
Please see our Creative Literacies page, where communication skills are embedded in creative courses such as creative writing, poetry, songwriting and journalling for wellbeing.

Enjoyable and sociable. Just being part of a group of learners/friends was great.

Want to learn more? Can we help you?
Complete the form below and one of our friendly team will be back in touch!

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We'll support you how we can

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Further questions? Or need some help completing the form?

Our news and views

7 personality traits to work in education

Dishing it out: How food became a satirical staple

Five techniques to practice gratitude

A look back at the life of WEA co-founder Frances Mansbridge

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The top 7 weirdest sports at the 2024 Olympics

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Further questions?

Our news and views

7 personality traits to work in education

Dishing it out: How food became a satirical staple

Five techniques to practice gratitude

A look back at the life of WEA co-founder Frances Mansbridge

Zero waste week 2024, explained

The top 7 weirdest sports at the 2024 Olympics

The benefits of reading

Supporting our WEA community during unrest in the UK: useful resources

How to spot fake news

Ways to qualify for fee remission

Further questions?

Our news and views

7 personality traits to work in education

Dishing it out: How food became a satirical staple

Five techniques to practice gratitude

A look back at the life of WEA co-founder Frances Mansbridge

Zero waste week 2024, explained

The top 7 weirdest sports at the 2024 Olympics

The benefits of reading

Supporting our WEA community during unrest in the UK: useful resources

How to spot fake news

A career choice for compassionate people

Care work

Counselling skills

Short courses or long qualifications

Reach your potential

Supportive classes

Learn your way with the WEA

Working with partners across Scotland to improve digital skills

Our news and views

7 personality traits to work in education

Dishing it out: How food became a satirical staple

Five techniques to practice gratitude

A look back at the life of WEA co-founder Frances Mansbridge

Zero waste week 2024, explained

The top 7 weirdest sports at the 2024 Olympics

The benefits of reading

Supporting our WEA community during unrest in the UK: useful resources

How to spot fake news

Working with partners across Scotland to improve numeracy skills

Our news and views